Devotion to Deception
Written by Kleora
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Prologue
When one thinks of Ponyville, one often pictures a quaint, cheery little village intersected by well-trodden dirt roads, cosy homes and stores in which a plethora of multicolored ponies reside, each going about their own daily routine with the ease and familiarity that comes with years upon years of practice. A place where everypony knows everypony else, there are no strangers, few secrets and everypony is expected to look after their fellow pony.
A place where anypony new to wander into town was immediately assaulted by the town’s hyperactive party mare, Pinkie Pie, and quickly introduced into Ponyville society with an overabundance of fanfare. The carnation pink mare was loved across town, and made special care to reciprocate that love by continually throwing amazing, over the top parties celebrating the smallest, most trivial of things. Whether it was somepony’s birthday, cute-ceañera, or they had just gotten a tooth pulled by the resident dentist, Colgate, Pinkie just had to throw a party to commemorate the occasion.
Eccentric as she was, Pinkie was a kind mare always willing to lend a helping hoof to those who needed it, as evident by the fact she was the vessel of an Element of Harmony; specifically, Laughter. This meant not only that she had a hand in saving Equestria numerous times, but that she was near inseparable from her five closest friends and fellow Element bearers, Rarity, the Element of Generosity, Applejack, the Element of Honesty, Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, and finally Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic.
While Pinkie was the town’s party girl, Rarity was its fashionista. For a small rural community such as Ponyville, it wasn’t hard to be the top name in fashion, but the elegant Rarity went above and beyond all that. Her name was known not only known throughout the town, but in the magnificent royal city of Canterlot and the surrounding cities as well. Her innate need to prove herself through her own unique and creative means insured that everything she laid her hooves upon turned into a masterpiece of modern fashion.
As vain as the pearl white Unicorn was sometimes oft to be, she was still the epitome of generosity. Once even daring to go as far as to donate her pride and joy, her wonderfully coiffed violet tail, to a sea serpent in desperate need, which was all the more admirable when you realise that short tails were definitely not in at the time. Nevertheless, she was constantly proving to Canterlot elite and Ponyville residents alike just why she was indeed a rarity.
Rarity was the picture of elegance and sophistication, Applejack, however, was not. A simple Earth pony with a fair orange coat, long blonde mane and tail kept tied at all times and a telling cutie mark of three gleaming red apples on her flank, she was a hard working farm mare, tending the many trees of Sweet Apple Acres with firm but unwavering care, often doubling as a salespony at their family’s apple stand in the market alongside her older brother Big Macintosh.
Anypony worth their weight in apples knew that ponies of Apple lineage valued family above all else, and for Applejack her devotion to honestly rivaled even that of her loyalty to her kin.
For AJ, being outspoken came with the job of salespony, but for the timid Pegasus pony Fluttershy it was one of the most difficult things she could imagine. She was the most secluded and introverted of the group, and as such most days the mare could be found on her own in her cottage at the edge of the Everfree forest, taking care of all her animal friends. Although, one could often glimpse her coat of maize and long, soft pink mane making forays to the market for supplies and regular get togethers with her friends.
Shy as she was, the girl had a tough side. There were still whispered stories that told of the mare wielding a gaze so intense and so fierce that it could stop you in your tracks and bend you to her every whim. Luckily, The Look rarely ever graced her luminous turquoise eyes, save for the few times when a particularly unruly animal refused to listen.
Then there was Rainbow Dash, the brash, loud, boastful sky blue Pegasus with a shocking mane composed of all colours of the rainbow. Self-proclaimed best flier in Equestria, Rainbow was as fast as the multicolored bolt of lightning that graces her athletic flank, and there was no doubt in her, or anypony else’s mind that she had what it takes to make it into the famous aerobatics group, the Wonderbolts.
Despite her braggart nature, Dash is as loyal a friend as you can get and she’ll fight a fierce battle to defend any of her friends that come under fire. Just one glance into the deep magenta of her eyes and you know she’s ready to take on the world in the name of loyalty.
And then there was Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic herself. Twilight was what could only be called the booky sort, with a coat the colour of lavender and a navy mane that hung straight as a board, interspersed with two stripes beside her horn, one of purple and one of magenta. Her cutie mark was a six-pointed pink and white star-burst surrounded by five other stars of smaller sizes that signified her affinity for all things magic.
After her ascension to Alicorn status a year earlier, a pair of magnificent lavender wings manifested themselves behind her shoulder blades, allowing her to soar through the sky and take the magic of Pegasus flight for her own. Alongside the new addition of her wings, Twilight could also sense the potent magic of an Earth pony coursing through her being, imbuing her with the exhilarating feeling of the raw power that was the elemental magic flowing through the ground under her hooves and the trees and flowers that stood proud all around her.
Regardless of her induction into the ranks of royalty, she still valued her friends and what they had to say, and often went to them when she had a problem. Many times she doubted herself and claimed she was in over her head, but thanks to the magic of friendship she could always rely on the girls to quickly dissuade her of those notions.
This time, however, her reasons for needing her friends were far from the usual trivial problems she was plagued with.
This time it was serious.
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Twilight Sparkle numbly paced back and forth in the foyer of the Ponyville library, the slow, rhythmic clop of her hooves on the tarnished wood floor lulling her into a near trance-like state as she became lost in her thoughts for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Actually, it had only been the eleventh time; she had been counting. Or, at least she was pretty sure it was the twelfth... wait, did she say it was the twelfth? No, that simply couldn’t be correct; it had to have been the fifteenth time. Or maybe it was the sixteenth… no! It was definitely the--
“Twilight! Hello?! Earth to Twilight!”
Twilight started, jumping back slightly as a purple and green baby dragon stared at her with an exasperated expression painted on his face. Oh no! She must have gotten distracted by her thoughts again. My, that had to have been the eleventh time that day she had done that! Wait, that couldn’t be rig--
“Twilight! Quit zoning out on me!”
“Right! Sorry, Spike.” she coughed out guiltily, “I’ve just been a tad distracted as of late. There’s been a lot going on and I think it’s finally taking its toll on me…” she trailed off, staring at the aged wood of the wall ahead of her with increasingly vacant eyes before giving a curt shake of her head and focusing back on the young drake that acted as her personal assistant.
“Well I’m sure you came to ask me something, so what did you need, Spike?”
“I wanna know what’s going on with you, Twi. Ever since you came back from your trip to Canterlot a few days ago you’ve been… you’ve been like that!” The dragon hurriedly finished, gesturing wildly to Twilight herself.
“I’ve been me? Spike, that makes no sense, of course I’ve been me! Who else would I be?” Twilight paused, cocking her head in a confused manner, “Spike, did you get into the ice cream again?”
“No! Well… I guess, maybe. But that’s not the point. You’ve been weirder than normal all week, Twi. Staring off into nothing with bloodshot eyes, talking to yourself, staying holed up in your room unless myself or one of the girls drags you out. I haven’t even seen you pick up a book in the last five days!” Stopping to suck in a breath, Spike continued, “Don’t act like this is nothing, Twilight. I know you, and I know you’re not alright. You’re always helping me with my problems; for once let me help you!”
After a moment the Alicorn’s eyes slid down to meet Spike’s. For a while they just stared at each other, neither willing to look away, Twilight’s gaze was one of uncertainty while Spike’s was of calm reassurance. Neither of them said anything for a long, tense moment before the dragon noticed something peculiar; Twi’s eyes were watering, and her ears were flicking downwards as if they wanted to flatten themselves to her skull. Now why were they doing that?
No sooner had the question crossed his mind did the pony he called a sister release a quiet, strangled noise, before crumpling to the floor in a mess of limbs, fur and hair as tears slowly began trickling their way down the already messy fur of her cheeks.
“What the hay?! Twilight!”
Spike rushed across the spacious room to her curled form as increasingly violent sobs wracked her lavender body. He sidled up beside her, worriedly wrapping an arm around her shaking shoulders as he tried to calm her.
“Twi, it’s okay, you’re alright. Everything is going to be fine, you’ll see. Whatever it is that’s bothering you right now will all work out. I promise. I promise, Twi. I swear to you, everything will be fine. You’ve just gotta calm down.”
“H-how? How could it ever be fine?!” she gasped as another sob forced her head back between her quivering hooves.
“Twilight, take a deep breath, okay? Can you do that for me?” Spike gently rubbed a clawed hand over her right shoulder as he felt her body heave, taking in as much air as it could before releasing it in a noticeably less severe sob.
“That’s good, Twi. Can you do it a few more times?”
Giving a tiny nod, she drew in another quaking breath, letting it go slowly before repeating the process over and over again. The young drake sat dutifully on the uncomfortable hardwood floor with Twilight for what seemed like the better part of an hour, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly as her breathing eventually evened out and the sobs died down to mere hiccups.
Slowly she raised her head and levitated a tissue to her tears stained face, daubing it and blowing her nose loudly. Reaching out with the tell-tale magenta aura of her magic again, she brought a hooful of extra tissues towards her, attempting to dry her eyes before giving up, choosing instead to look at Spike.
“I don’t know what to do, Spike. I just don’t know. I have no plan, no checklist, nothing! I feel so helpless!”
The dragon jolted, surprised at hearing her talk again. Recovering quickly, he inquired, “What’s wrong, Twilight? What happened?”
“It’s… It’s my mum.” A tremor ran through her body and her wings fluttered. Opting to ignore it, she continued shakily, “When I went to Canterlot three days ago there was a courier waiting for me at the platform. I- I received an urgent message from Princess Celestia, telling me my mother had gotten in a bad accident not even an hour before I arrived and had been rushed to emergency care at the Starswirl Hospital of Canterlot.” Twilight halted, biting back another sob as a few more tears slid unnoticed down her face.
“I had to read the letter three more times to just convince myself I hadn’t imagined the whole thing, but it was definitely real.” she shifted her gaze from Spike to a photo on a nearby table of her, Shining Armour and their parents laughing and sporting ridiculous grins on a beach somewhere in Coltifornia.
It was taken back when she was a filly, a few months after she’d been accepted as Celestia’s personal student, but she still remembered how happy they had been. Right before the picture was taken her father had gone to go get them all some ice cream from a nearby cart. While he was away her mother called Shining Armour over and whispered something into his ear. With a mischievous chuckle he raced over to his saddlebag and pulled a flat, circular pink rubber object, levitating it to his mother then sitting back down in the sand. As her dad paid the ice cream vendor her mom shot Twilight a sly smile, deftly slipping what Twilight now recognised to be a whoopee cushion under the passing of her dad’s chair. Twilight remembered trying to hold back her snickers as her dad trotted over, the cones held in the deep azure aura of his magic. All attempts to hold back the laughter failed horribly after he handed the ice cream out and promptly flopped back onto his chair, only to be met with a resounding ‘PPPPFFFFFFPPPPTTTTSHH’. Both siblings and her mother fell back in laughter that only doubled when her dad reached over with a hearty laugh and bumped her mum’s ice cream so it mashed into her muzzle.
The picture had been taken not long before the laughter had faded, and if she concentrated on it, Twilight could swear she could still hear the chortling family.
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Spike’s jaw dropped and his heart nearly sputtered to a stop at hearing Twilight’s pain-laced words. She was hurt? How could this happen? How could something like this happen to such a caring mare like Twilight Velvet?
While he didn’t know what exactly happened to the mother of two, he knew it was bad. If it were merely a sprained ankle or bump to the head then Twilight would be her usual calm and collected self. She could deal with a sprain; she could deal with a bump to the head. Those were manageable, easy to remedy. Checklists could be made; plans could be hatched and followed through with. But for her to be as much as a wreck as she was, it had to be serious.
Lifting a hand to scrub at his face, Spike was surprised to see it come away glistening. Odd, he mused; he hadn’t even noticed he had been crying. He tried to dry his face, a grim expression etched on his features as he waited patiently for Twilight to come back to herself. The dragon soon found himself studying her. At some point during the last week she must have stopped eating regularly; she seemed so much more gaunt and frail than before. And the bags under her eyes, when had those shown up? Her mane and fur were all messy and wild, and a quick glance at her wings confirmed that those too had been neglected in light of recent events. He shook his head sadly, poor Twilight, he mused. She didn’t deserve to go through this, especially not right now. She was just getting used to being a princess, and was certainly stressed enough as it was. Letting a small sigh escape, he sat resolute and waited for Twilight to continue.
A few minutes of heavy silence later, Twilight’s eyes refocused and she continued to talk about what transpired a week prior.
“After I made sense of the letter I teleported directly into the hospital and demanded I be allowed to see her. They told me she was in--” Twilight gulped, “In surgery, and I couldn’t see her until they were done. In hindsight, that should’ve been obvious to me, but I think I was too worried and nervous and… and…” Another few tears landed with a small splash on the already damp floor.
“You don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to, Twi. You’re hurting, and I don’t want you to think you have to keep telling me something this painful just because I asked for it.”
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself again, “I know, Spike, but I have to get this out. I’ve kept all this… this damn stuff locked up inside since I found out, I need to let it out in the open and come to terms with the fact my mum’s going to… Th- That my mum could possibly… Could p- possibly… That my mummy might die and there’s nothing I can do about it!”
Lifting her head and resting it on her leg as silent tears flowed from her eyes, she tried to express what she felt, “I’m scared, Spike. I’m scared that I’m going to lose one of the most important ponies in my life. If it wasn’t for my mom, I wouldn’t be here right now. In fact, neither would you! She drove me onwards and encouraged me to try my hardest at magic when she figured out how infatuated I was with it! With three jobs each it still took her and my dad three years to earn the money required to apply for the entrance exam. And even then I almost let her down! If it weren’t for Dash I would have embarrassed myself and made all my mother’s hard work for nothing!”
Breaking off as her voice caught, Twilight cleared her throat and tried to keep speaking, “It’s because of her that I got where I am today. It’s because of her I was able to hatch your egg. It’s because of her that I was given the opportunity to study under Celestia and make my first and best friends. The main reason I did all those things is because I wanted to make my mom proud of me! I wanted to show her that everything she and dad did was going to pay off! And if she- ...if she dies, then it’s like all that’s just for nothing…”
Twilight was sobbing openly again, huge wracking cries that were filled with raw pain and sorrow echoed in the space of the large room. Spike, having been shoved away by her earlier outburst quickly enveloped the lavender pony in the most bone-crushing hug he could muster, hoping he could convey that no matter what, Twilight’s life wouldn’t be in vain if the worst came to pass. She’d always have friends and family that loved her and needed her just as much as she needed them.
And so Spike sat, his arms staying wrapped around the distraught mare until late in the evening. It was only until he felt the tremors accompanying her cries subside and the change in her breathing that signified sleep that he let go of her and stood up. Treading carefully to the closet outside of Twilight’s bedroom he retrieved a soft blue fleece blanket and a pillow, delicately draping the blanket over her sleeping figure and slipping the pillow under her weary head. He sat down at a table in the main room and scrawled a long letter, sighing tiredly as another tear freed itself from his eye and splashed upon the page. Setting it alight with Dragon Fire, he quickly scribbled another note and left it a foot away from Twi so she wouldn’t miss it in the event that she awakened. With that done, Spike headed for the door, looking back at the form of his troubled friend, a scowl marring his face as he slipped out into the inky darkness of Luna’s night.
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Unnoticed by the little dragon walking down the road, Rainbow Dash pried herself away from the library window and tore off into the sky, chest heaving as she shot through the night, tears of her own streaming down her face and falling to the cold ground below.
